A Trip to Sweden - Day 5(30th Nov 2014, Sunday)

This is the first Sunday of Advent in Sweden to mark that Christmas is on the way. God Jul!  Where they light their first candle. After the complimentary breakfast at the hotel, we washed ourselves and then went to the Umea City Chuch which we checked out the night before. 

Umea City Church (outside)Umea City Church (inside) - the on going service

We were in a rush as we were told that the service would start at 10am. However when we arrived, did we learn that the service started at 11am. 

So the service started on time. I couldn't really understand the service as the whole service was in Swedish. We attended the service after all as we thought Sunday is a day that we should be at the church and honour God.

The service started with someone talking, followed by some singing and a performance with people singing and talking a bit. 

After the service, we went back to our hotel, got our things and met up with Ibrahim, his wife Zalina and his son Yasin. Ibrahim has been in Sweden for over 30 years, while his wife has been here for about 10 years. 13 year old Yasin is Ibrahim's son from his previous marriage. Yasin has Down Syndrome but happy and smart too. By the way, Ibrahim is actually Zainal's friend in Sweden. 

Ibrahim took us to Bjurholm, the smallest municipality in Sweden. The journey was long but the heavenly scenery made it all the worth. 

The 100 year old house

At about 4 or 5 pm, we stopped by at a small town to have a drink and a little food. After coming out for the cafe, there were people doing some small businesses such as the pony ride, horse cart ride, grilled marshmallows, etc. 

We got a free grilled marshmallow. That was the first time I had it. It was fragrant, and sweet. After the grill, the marshmallow turned soft and as we touched it, it melted. That was new to me. 

People grilling marshmallows

Besides, Ibrahim also treated us to the horse cart ride. 

On the way back from Bjurholm, we stopped by at a gymnasium to use the toilet. There we also saw two teams of children having a tournament of floor hockey. 

After a long day trip, we finally came back to Ibrahim's house for homecooked Malaysian styled dinner. Zalina prepared the meal and Ibrahim cleaned the table after meal. This is the Swedish family where everyone has equal right. Everyone chips in for the job. There is no reason that one cannot help up to enlighten each other's work load. 

As we were about to leave, Ibrahim and his wife gave us two caps and files from Mercedes Benz. By the way, Ibrahim works in Mercedes Benz.

On the way home to the hotel, Ibrahim took us to Willy:s hypermarket to buy some cooking ingredients.

I also bought a bottle of glogg to take home to Malaysia. It is a popular traditional drink in Sweden during winter to warm the body. The Swedish will normally heat up the glogg on the stove. Then they will put in some raisins and drink it. 

Some glogg are alcoholic while some are written as non-alcoholic. However, I remember when I was talking to Zainal in Stockholm, he said that the Swedish's defination of 'non-alcoholic' means the alcohol content is not more than 1%. So for people who want to avoid alcohol at all, you need to think twice before taking glogg. 

Red Glogg

We were happy and thankful that we met up with people with such good hospitality. 

As we bid farewell to each other, we hugged each other. Yasin kissed us, that was the sign that he loved us. After headed back to the hotel, we called it a day!

What a wonderful day! Thank You God!